Bentonville, AR - SAM&#8217;S Club will celebrate the grand opening of a new 128,000- square-foot warehouse club located at 10444 North Mall Drive. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 11th. The SAM&#8217;S Club will open for business on Thursday, at 5:00 p.m. Regular club hours will be Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm.

The Baton Rouge SAM&#8217;S Club will offer more than 4,000 items, feature a Club Cafe, an Optical Department, a Gas Station, a fresh Floral, Bakery and Meat Department and an Embroidery Center. In addition, the club will have a Pharmacy and a 1-Hour Photo Lab.

"We are excited about our new SAM&#8217;S Club and the many valuable services we have to offer our members, said Jim Gallagher SAM&#8217;S Club general manager. We look forward to providing our members with a shopping experience that offers more surprises for less."

SAM&#8217;S Club partners are actively involved in the communities that they serve and this year have already contributed over $26,000 to area non-profit organizations. Nationally, SAM&#8217;S Club participates with the Children&#8217;s Miracle Network and United Way fund drives. SAM&#8217;S Club has also recently announced it&#8217;s national campaign to promote Literacy, Get Caught Reading with SAM&#8217;S Club. In the state of Louisiana, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has raised and contributed more than $1.5 million to local non-charitable organizations.

The Baton Rouge SAM&#8217;S Club joins 10 locations in the state of Louisiana. SAM&#8217;S Club, with 1999 sales of more than $24 billion, is the largest warehouse club in the United States with 466 clubs and 38.5 million cardholders. SAM&#8217;S Club is a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world&#8217;s largest retailer with 1999 sales of more than $165 billion. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has raised and contributed over $163 million back to local communities throughout the United State s.